Dec 16 2020 Beethoven Christmas Birthday

 

This picture comes from Bing the Microsoft search engine.  It celebrates German composer Ludwig van Beethoven's 250 birthday today.  I don't know what makes wikipedia include his height as a statistic to his fame.   It does include his most popular piano compositions, and the name of his assumed illegitimate daughter - Minona Maria Theresia Selma Loisa Cornelia von Stackelberg.  Isn't that a mouthful.   Bing says "this scene at Bonn's Münsterplatz features the city's enduring Beethoven Monument (at rear), seemingly swarmed by an additional 700 green- and gold-coloured Beethoven statues. Created by German conceptual artist Ottmar Hörl, the colourful statues were placed in the square last year in the run-up to the composer's birthday. Beethoven concerts and celebrations had been planned in Germany and around the world throughout 2020 in honour of this milestone anniversary. Most have been pushed to next year due to the coronavirus pandemic, but with a quick Bing video search for your favourite symphony or sonata, you can join the world in appreciating Beethoven's radical creativity." Are there Beethoven Jokes?  With 250 years to come up with things, there certainly are: When Beethoven passed away, he was buried in a churchyard. A couple days later, the town drunk was walking through the cemetery and heard some strange noise coming from the area where Beethoven was buried. Terrified, the drunk ran and got the priest to come and listen to it. The priest bent close to the grave and heard some faint, unrecognizable music coming from the grave. Frightened, the priest ran and got the town magistrate. When the magistrate arrived, he bent his ear to the grave, listened for a moment, and said, "Ah, yes, that's Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, being played backwards." He listened a while longer, and said, "There's the Eighth Symphony, and it's backwards, too. Most puzzling." So the magistrate kept listening; "There's the Seventh... the Sixth... the Fifth..." Suddenly the realization of what was happening dawned on the magistrate; he stood up and announced to the crowd that had gathered in the cemetery, "My fellow citizens, there's nothing to worry about. It's just Beethoven decomposing." This little building is behind the Good Earth restaurant. It was given a stormy sky for a moody look, and seems to be a good fit with Beethoven today.  I expect I could take its picture in the snow later today.  Read past POTDs at my Blog: https://marilyncornwell.blogspot.com Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Susan Sontag and a Valentine

"Beethoven never married, but in his early forties he feel deeply in love with a mysterious woman who remains known as “immortal beloved” — the eternally enchanting term of endearment by which the great composer addressed her in his letters. Her true identity has spurred entire books, but historians currently believe she was Antonie Brentano — a Viennese aristocrat married to a Frankfurt businessman. Beethoven’s missives to this “immortal beloved,” which include the only known love letter of his to use the informal German du for “you” rather than the formal Sie, were found among his personal effects; they were never mailed — a beautiful and tragic testament to the fact that their affair, like all affairs, was both bedeviled and vitalized by the awareness that the two lovers could never fully have each other." The paragraphs above was written by Maria Popova, who was referencing the book "The 50 Greatest Love Letters of All Time" edited by David H. Lowenherz.  The fifty authors and recipients are listed HERE.   All famous writers or historical figures.    Maria Popova is interesting.  Going through her blog brainpickings.org, I find a special post.  It is Susan Sontag on Love:  Illustrated Diary Excerpts.  What Maria did was to sieve through Sontag's journals for her most poignant, most private meditations on love.  These were published in As Consciousness Is Harnessed to Flesh: Journals and Notebooks, 1964 - 1980. Then Maria had artist Wendy MacNaughton hand-letter and illustrate them exclusively for Brain Pickings as a poster.  This became so popular that numerous editions were printed and published.   It is HERE.  Wendy MacNaughton's collaborated with Maria a lot and her work is shown with the articles HERE. But head over to her website and see a compelling display of her drawings  - wendymacnaughton.com. Our Valentine Day images come from the Ringling Circus in Sarasota.